St.Lorenzo Ruiz
"' I' am a''' '''Catholic and wholeheartedly accept death to God; Had I''' '''a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I''' '''offer." St.Lorenzo Ruiz 'is a Filipino saint venerated from the Roman Catholic Church. A Chinese-Filipino, he became the country's protomatyr after his execution in Japan by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century. He is the patron saint of,among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people. Feast Day is September 28 Early Life Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog. Ruiz served as an altar boy at the Binondo Church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Ruiz earned the title of ''escribano (calligrapher) because of his skillful penmanship. He became a member of the Cofradia del Santísimo Rosario(Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary). He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter.The Ruiz family led a generally peaceful, religious and content life. In 1636, whilst working as a clerk for the Binondo Church, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Ruiz sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests: Saint Antonio Gonzalez, Saint Guillermo Courtet, and Saint Miguel de Aozaraza; a Japanesepriest, Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz; and a lay leper Saint Lázaro of Kyoto. Ruiz and his companions left for Okinawa on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers. Martyrdom The Tokugawa Shogunate was persecuting Christians by the time Ruiz had arrived in Japan. The missionaries were arrested and thrown into prison, and after two years, they were transferred to Nagasaki to face trial by torture. He and his companions faced different types of torture. On 27 September 1637, Ruiz and his companions were taken to the Nishizaka Hill, where they were tortured by being hung upside down over a pit. This form of torture was known as tsurushi (釣殺し) in Japanese or horca y hoya ("gallows and pit") in Spanish. The method was supposed to be extremely painful: though the victim was bound, one hand was always left free so that victims may signal their desire to recant, leading to their release. Ruiz refused to renounce Christianity and died from blood loss and suffocation. His body was cremated, with the ashes thrown into the sea. Paint to sainthood '''Cause of beatification and canonization The Positio Super Introductione Causae or the cause of beatification of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was written by respected historian, Fr. Fidel Villarroel, O.P. Ruiz was beatified during Pope John Paul II's papal visit to the Philippines. It was the first beatification ceremony to be held outside the Vatican in history. San Lorenzo Ruiz was canonized by the same pope in the Vatican City on 18 October 1987, making him the first Filipino saint. Miracle His canonization was based on a miracle that took place in 1983, when Cecilia Alegria Policarpio, a two-year-old girl suffering from brain atrophy (hydrocephalus), was cured after her family and supporters prayed to Ruiz for his intercession. She was diagnosed with the condition shortly after birth and was treated at Magsaysay Medical Center.